Conveyer



April 3, 1951 H. POMERANTZ CONVEYER 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. 2, 1945 IN VEN TOR. )Verbe/7' @mem/#z April 3, 1951 H. PoMERANTz 2,547,885

coNvEYER Filed Nov. 2, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. /iereromera/#z 47 70k/VE Y April 3, 1951 H. PoMERANTz 2,547,885

CONVEYER Filed Nov. 2, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. /fefber/ ,Dome/arma Patented Apr. 3, 1951 UNITED STATES FTENT OFFICE 3 Claims,

My invention relates to conveyors and particularly but not exclusively to a device of this character for shifting the stock of shoes in a shoe of shoes into stock. I shall describe my device as it may be applied to stock in a shoe store but it is to be understood that the invention is adapted for and may be used in connection with the shifting of any stock which is ordinarily stored in a multiplicity of separate boxes or containers which, for convenience, must be arranged in order of style, size or other characteristic.

In a shoe store the stock of shoes, which are boxed in pairs, is usually kept on a plurality of horizontally extending, vertically spaced shelves which may extend from the floor to the ceiling and indefinitely in a horizontal direction, depending on the size of the store. The shoes must be arranged in consecutive order by style number, by size and by width, otherwise it would be practically impossible quickly to find a pair of shoes of the style and size required by a customer. When shoes are sold, spaces or empty boxes are left in the stock, but newly arrived Shoes are almost never put directly into these spaces. On the contrary, thes-e spaces usually must be closed up by shifting the remaining stock to provide other spaces, and shifting of the boxes on the shelves to close up empty spaces and to provide other spaces where needed goes on substantially continuously whenever the sales personnel can devote the time thereto.

The present method of shifting stock is a tedious, enslaving and -time consuming job. The

shoes are usually shifted vertically from Shelf l to shelf, although sometimes horizontally, but rarely more than seven boxes at a time can be moved horizontally along; a shelf became of store whereby to facilitate putting a, new supply dividers in the shelves or shelf sections which Y The pulling out of shoe boxes, either full orempty, from the wall shelf and immediately putting them back a few feet further away is a never ending task and, in most stores, goes on day in and day out, often after business hours, and also f on Saturdays when business in most stores is at its peak.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a conveyor of a type which will greatly simplify and facilitate the shifting. of stock of this character. More specifically the principal object of my invention is to provide a conveyor comprising a plurality of vertically-spaced, horizontallyextending shelves which are free from all partitions Vor other dividing means which would prevent the simultaneous movement of an unlimited number of'shoe boxes by merely pushing themV along the shelves env masse, and which said shelves are movable longitudinally from end to end thereof, vertically from the space occupied by the shelf next below, and finally from the lowerrnost Shelf space to the uppermost shelf space.

With these objects in view my invention includes the novel elements and combinations and arrangements thereof described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. l is a more or less diagrammatic front elevation, with certain portions broken away, of a very small installation illustrating my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section of Fig. 1in about the plane 2--2 with certain portions broken away and showing shoe boxes on the shelves;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a box-carrying, shelf-forming unit;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevation showing how members on adjacent shelf units fit together to maintain the upper surfaces of said shelfforming units substantially coplanar;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing a modification of the means for maintaining the top surfaces of the shelf-forming units coplanar;

Fig. 6 is a section of Fig. 1 in the plane 6-6 but drawn to a larger scale and turned 90 in a counter-clockwise direction;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the rails'on which my shelf-forming units are supported showing the construction on the turns thereof which connect a pair of rails at one elevation to the pair of rails next below;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary schematic elevation view of the driving mechanism of my conveyor; Y

and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary top plan View of Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawingsl represents the surface of a side wall of a shoe store. Secured to the wall, in spaced relation thereto, by any suitable means, is a plurality of horizontally-spaced, vertically-extending members 2 to which is welded or otherwise secured a plurality of vertically-spaced brackets 3 which support horizontally-extending tracks. Each of the tracks comprises a lower front rail 4, and an upper rear rail 5. These rails are formed f' of angles as shown in Fig. 2 and serve, respectively, to guide rollers 6 and 'I which are mounted on axles 8; the rollers being held in spaced relation by sleeves 9 surrounding the axles.

Each of the shelves in my container is formed of a plurality of separate units l formed of light but rigid material such, for example, as aluminum, and are of such size as to support a single box l l of shoes thereon, as shown in Fig. 2. Each unit comprises a horizontal portion i2 on which the shoe box rests and, at the back thereof, a vertically-extending hanger portion I3 which is pendulously supported on the axle of a pair of rollers as shown at I4 (see Fig. 2). The horizontal member of each unit which forms a portion of the shelf surface is at a lower elevation than the axle of the rollers from which it is suspended and, when a box of shoes is resting thereon, the center of gravity of the assembly is substantially below the axle. Thus the surface l2, although it may swing about the supporting axle is, nevertheless, maintained substantially horizontal at all times. The weight of the boxed shoes holds the rollers 6 in Contact with the lower rails and the rollers l in contact with the upper rails. In the horizontal sections of the track onlytwo rails are necessary although, if desired, four rails, one at the top and one at thebottom of each of the rollers may be employed but, in such case, the vertical spacing between the rails of any roller should slightly exceed the diameter of the roller so that it is not in contact with both the upper rail and the lower rail at the same time. The units it), when supported on the horizontal track sections, are in contiguous juxtaposed relation so that the box supporting portions l2 form a continuous, smooth shelf surface along which any number of boxes may be pushed simultaneously to close up vacant spaces existing on the shelf to provide other spaces Where desired. In order to insure that the tops of the box supporting surfaces l2 are maintained coplanar to form a smooth surfaced shelf when the units are in juxtaposed relation, one or more pairs of cooperating members, such as shown at I and I 6, may be secured to the bottoms of the members l2 as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. Instead of using cooperating members of the type shown at i5 and I 5, self-centering elements such as a hollow cylindrical member il and a conical member I8, shown in Fig. 5, may be employed; the conical member I8 being adapted to enter the cylindrical member Il of the next adjacent shelf-forming unit.

Each of the horizontal sections of track intermediate the top and bottom sections are connected at one end to the track above and at the other end to the track below by semcircular, four rail track sections shown generally at i3 in Fig. l, and in detail in Fig. 7. Thus, referring particularly to Fig. 7, l is the bottom rail and v5 the top rail of a horizontal section of track and d' and 5 are the corresponding rails in the horiyZontal section of track next below. Each of these tracks is formed from an angle having one ilange horizontal and the other flange vertical. On the turns, outer channel sections 26 and inner channel sections 2 l, concentric therewith, are employed to guide the rollers around the turns. The radial distance between the inner surfaces of the webs ofthe channels 2d and 2l is slightly greater than the diameter or' the rollers so that the peripheries of the rollers do not contact both webs at the sama time.

Referring now to Fig. l, it will be noted that the bottom tracks B are connected to the top tracks T by four rail curved tracks and a vertical track 22 formed of four angles 23, 24, 25 and 26, as shown in Fig. 6, (it being remembered that Fig. 6 is a section of Fig. l in the plane 6 6 but revolved in a counter-clockwise direction).

In Fig. l, I have shown a top track T, a bottom track B and two intermediate tracks which, for convenience in discussing further ,details and the operation of my invention, will be designated as tracks C and D. It is to be understood, of course, that any number of intermediate tracks may be employed. As viewed in Fig. l, track T is connected at its left hand end to track C; track C is connected at its right hand end to track D; track D is connected at its left hand end to track B; and track B is connected at its right hand end by tracks, including the vertical track 22, to the track 'I'. Thus, a continuous, closed track systern is provided on which the shelf-forming units move to the left along track T, thence down to track C, along track C to the right, thence down to track D, along track D to the left, thence down to track B, along track B to the right, and then up to track T. In other words, the shelf-forming unitsmay be continuously circulated from the top track through each of the intermediate tracks to the bottom track and then back up to the top track. Considered as shelves, each shelf, with the boxes thereon, may be 4moved into theI position occupied by any other shelf.

In order to eiTect this movement, I provide a ,driving motor-2l (see Fig. 8) which drives shaft 28 upon which sprocket 29 `is mounted. Fig. 3 is understood to be `merely a schematic showing of the driving connections and ordinarily the drive from motor 21 to shaft 28 would be through a suitable speed reducing device so that shaftZS would turn rather slowly to provide a movement of the shelf-forming units in a horizontal direction at a rate of speed .about as fast, say, as a .man can walk.

Referring now to Fig. 8 in connectionwith Fig. l, a chain-3!! driven by sprocket 29 runs over idler sprocket 3| upwardly over idler sprocket 32,

`around driven sprocket'33 on shait34, around y38, mounted lon shaft 3,8', by means of the chain 39.

Mounted on shaft 34 (see Fig. 9) is a sprocket 40 which drives chain di. Chain 4l drives sprocket -42 shown in dotted outline in Fig. l whichis mounted on and drives shaft 43 l(see also Fig. 2). A second sprocket ylll is mounted on shaft i3 and drives a sprocket d5 mounted on shaft llt by meansof chain 41. f

Mounted on shaft 43 and driven thereby is a pair of spaced, circular discs ES and 49, having at least one slot 50 therein (see Fig. l). These discs are mounted to rotate between the rails of the top track T, and the slot 5o is adapted to engage and receive the sleeve 9 around the axle .8 ofeach pair of rollers, as shown in Figs. land 2. The discs d8 and i9 rotate in the direction l of the arrow shown in Fig. l and remove the Til When a shelf-forming unit is thus moved from an upper track to a lower track, it pushes all of the units on the lower track forwardly so that the last unit on the other end of the lower track is moved to a position where it can be picked off by a set of discs 48 and 49 and carried around to the next lower track, pushing all the units on the next lower track forward so that the last unit is picked up by the ldiscs at the other end and swung around to the next lower track.

In order to move the units from the right hand end of the bottom track B into the vertical track 22, carry them upwardly, and deliver them to the top track T, the chain 30 is provided with spaced pairs of dogs 52, secured to the sides thereof so that they can straddle the sprockets, as shown in Fig. 8. The lowest horizontal run of the chain 39 is just over the sleeves 9 on the shelf-forming units at the right hand end of the bottom track B. In this position the dogs 52 project downwardly so that they engage the sleeves 9 and push the shelf-forming units to the right on the lower shelf, carry them upwardly through the vertical tracks 22, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, and around on to the top track. As the units arrive on the top track T, each unit is positioned in contiguous, juxtaposed relation to the unit previously delivered to the top track, and pushes all the units on the top track to the left so that the unit at the extreme left of the top shelf is pushed into a position wherey it is engaged by the paired discs t8 and 49 on shaft 133 and carried around to the next lower shelf C. Thus, any unit may be moved to any position in the assembly, and spaces formed in any of the shelves by the removal of boxes may be closed up to provide other spaces, where needed, by merely sliding the boxes along the shelves. Thus, the shifting of shoes is greatly facilitated.

The slots in the paired discs and the dogs on the chain 30 are so positioned that the shelfforming units are moved in properly timed relation as described above.

While I have described my invention in its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the words which I have used are word-s of description rather than of limitation and that changes within the purview of the appended claims may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of my invention.

WhatIclaimis:

1. In a conveyor of the character described, the combination with a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally-extending tracks each comprising a pair of spaced angle irons with each angle iron having a horizontal and vertical ange, of curved tracks connecting said vertically-spaced tracks together; the top track being connected at one end only to the next lower track, each track intermediate the top and bottom tracks being connected at one end only to the next lower track and the bottom track being connected to the top track to form a continuous track system; rollers mounted to ride in said tracks, shelf-forming units, means pendulously supporting said units on said rollers in contiguous relation to each other when said rollers are supported on the horizontal sections of said tracks to form substantially horizontally-extending shelves, and mechanism for eiecting movement of said units onsaid tracks; whereby said units may be moved from top, shelf-forming position to bottom, shelf-forming position and thence back to top, shelf-forming position.

2. In a conveyor of the character described the combination with two, vertically-spaced, horizontally-extending tracks each comprising a pair of spaced angle irons with each angle iron hav- -ing said units in said curved track from said upper track to said lower track while maintaining the shelf-forming surfaces thereof substantially horizontal.

3. In a conveyor of the character described, the combination with a plurality of horizontallyextending, vertically-spaced tracks each track comprising a pair of spaced angle irons with said irons having a horizontal and a vertical flange, tracks connecting said vertically-spaced tracks together to form a continuous track system from the top to the bottom track and a track connecting the bottom track to the top track, of a plurality of separate shelf-forming units disposed in juxtaposed relation to each other to form a horizontally-extending shelf below each horizontal track, a pair of rollers for each shelfforming unit mounted to ride on said tracks, means pendulously supporting each unit from a pair of rollers, means for maintaining said units in horizontal shelf-forming relation when juxtaposed, and means for moving said units on said track system.

' HERBERT POMERANTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Baker Jan. 12, 

